Discworld creator Terry Pratchett has died

Some of the comments/updates following the announcement that moved me...

From the @terryandrob Twitter account, as well as Rhianna Pratchett:

AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.

Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.

The End.​

Neil Gaiman also briefly Tweeted about Pratchett's passing, then published a blog post from which I will quote excerpts:

Neil Gaiman said:
There was nobody like him. I was fortunate to have written a book with him, when we were younger, which taught me so much.

This was the last thing I wrote about Terry. I knew his death was coming and it made it no easier:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/24/terry-pratchett-angry-not-jolly-neil-gaiman

I'll miss you, Terry.

I'm not up to writing anything yet. Maybe one day.
 
extremely sad news :cry:

The world truly lost a great man. But I guess nobody can escape Death when your hourglass runs out :(
 
The Most influential writer in my life, and the only author I will sit down and read cover to cover and when its done, read it again. RIP Sir Pratchett..
 
RIP PTerry.

Thanks for putting up an article, [MENTION=289]Jan[/MENTION]. I'm not sure how many of us realise how influential he was on gaming in the early 90's, with three point and click Discworld games published, as well as a MUD and an 80's text adventure. So much so, that he was the first ever PC Gamer cover! He was an avid gamer as well, loving the genres that provided a good fantasy story especially.

He also frequented the newsgroups, under the handle PTerry, and found the web an easy way to engage with fans way before any other author did. Technology always fascinated him, as one could tell from his books, and he was constantly evaluating how he could use tech to help him write, to the extent that he ran 7 monitors at one point, with various character and story notes populating each of them, with one holding his manuscript, and a final one showing him what the newsgroups were saying.

Obviously his life and career held much more that just these few paragraphs, but I thought it particularly fitting that MyG would report on his passing, as he truly was one of us.

PTerry, I will miss you, and your work. May your creations ensure your immortality.
 
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i must confess, i have never read Discworld, or indeed any of Terry's works. But keen to give it a bash. where should i begin ?
 
i must confess, i have never read Discworld, or indeed any of Terry's works. But keen to give it a bash. where should i begin ?

I'd recommend either Mort, a book about Death taking on an apprentice, or Guards! Guards!, which introduces my favourite Discworld characters.

The reasons for recommending each: Mort is easy to get into, and highlights PTerry's strong imagination, while standing up well on it's own. The next Death book barely mentions the other main characters in Mort, and as such can be read on its own easily. Guards! Guards! introduces the City Night Watch, who are tasked with defending the city of Ankh-Morpork against a dragon. It's a brilliant satire of the fantasy genre, while simultaneously setting up masterpieces like Night Watch.

If you liked those, I'd recommend this reading guide:
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[MENTION=1402]Avatar[/MENTION] : thanks dude, much appreciated

For any Pratchett newcomer I can recommend the Watch series. I'm an absolute Vimes NUT - he's my favourite fictional character of all time. I recently recommended the series to a colleague and he ended up finishing all the Watch books in 3 months. It's THAT addictive!
 
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